U.S. GoM Energy Producers Evacuating Ahead of T/S Nate
Oil and natural gas producers began evacuating staff at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms on Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm in as many months to threaten Gulf Coast oil and refining facilities. Nate, which has already killed three people in Costa Rica, according to local authorities, is forecast to scrape past Honduras and Mexico, enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall early on Sunday in Louisiana, near several major refineries. That path takes it through an area populated by offshore oil and natural gas platforms, which pumps more than 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, about 17 percent of U.S. output, according to government data. Forecasts for Nate have shifted in the past 24 hours.
USCG Sets Safety Zone Around Shell Rigs
The U.S. Coast Guard will establish safety zones around seven of Shell Oil's Gulf of Mexico high-production oil and natural gas platforms, at the company's request, to protect them from being hit by vessels operating outside normal shipping channels. "Placing safety zones around the platforms will significantly reduce the threat of...oil spills and releases of natural gas," the Coast Guard said in a notice published in Thursday's Federal Register. The new regulations, which take effect on May 1, prevent most vessels from coming within 500 m of the platforms. Only attending vessels, ships under 100 ft. authorized by the Coast Guard that aren't engaged in towing and vessels would be allowed near the platforms. Shell, the U.S.
Offshore Rigs Evacuated
According to reports, U.S. and Mexican oil and natural gas producers evacuated some offshore Gulf of Mexico platforms and rigs, curtailing output as Hurricane Dean whipped past Jamaica heading towards the Yucatan Peninsula. Six of the 834 manned oil and natural-gas platforms along the U.S. Gulf Coast have been evacuated, the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service said Sunday in a statement. That's shut about 1.8 percent of the Gulf's 1.3 million barrels of daily oil production and 0.7 percent of the region's natural gas. Royal Dutch Shell Plc evacuated 380 workers Saturday, the company said in a statement. Shell has shut production in the Gulf by 23,000 barrels of oil and 47.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
